Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-08-02
CURIOUS AND COSTLY CUSTOM.

People Showered with Gold Dust-How
Mexican Maidens Make "A Mash
Many interesting stories could be told Of
the cascarone balls of the past. but only
one will be mentioned as an instance of
the popularity of this peculiar feature Of
the balls On one occasion. AT a ball given
ut the residence of Don Jose Abrego, Pete
Serrano. then a muchacho, was on hand
selling cascarones. gentleman ap-
preached and asked what he would take
for his cascarones.
One dollar n dozen. was the answer
"Ho'r many have you:H was the next
INJURY.
Forty dozen"
''All right, I'll take ther
Taking the baskoi b. >,a-tfI down the
hall. but had not takSu Go5S- >trrs when
he was surrounded by = UGc-.-.- If young
ladies. and in d mugrSr. aG lan,is were
diving into the basRE coc-r< out with
double handfuls and crasaCl- ioem on his
head while he manfully strove 10 return
a few of the compliments he received. In
five minutes not one Of the forty dozen
cascarones remained whole.
The modus operandi Of cascarone max
ing is very simple, and about a. follow
Into an empty egCshell-whole. except lur
an opening in one end just large enough
10 remove the original cOntents-is placed
about a teaspo0nful of finely chopped pa
per OF various bright Colors and gold tin
sci; then the opening iS neatly closed by
pasting a piece Of Colored paper over il.
and then the cascarone il all ready for use
In Mexico, III the good old times, gold
dust mixed with diamond dust was often
used TO fill the egg shells AT the swell fan
dangoes given by the old grandeeS And
il is done occasionally nowadays by some
OF the wealthy old dons who wish to do
the thing up in style.
Another way of filling the shells was 10
use finely perfumed powder, and some
times rare and costly perfumes were used.
Very often the shells were beautifully
decorated and sometimes hand painted.
In Monterey, before the decline Of the Gus
tom. the shells were often colored in fan
ciful designs, like Easter eggs, and at 9th
er times tastefully decorated with differ
ent co!ors of paper. Chopped paper and
tinsel We're usually put in the shells, but
on more than one occasion gold dollar
pieces were uSed-Onc in each shell
Spiced candy was often used. and some
times powder and perfumery. House
wives religiOusly save the shells of all the
eggs they use and put them away until
cascarOne season comes around.
In caScarone breaking il is not neces-
sary that one should be acquainted-in
fact, 1t is a sort OF 'mashing" proceeding
all through. The act of breaking a cas-
carone on another head is to be consid-
cred a compliment by the recipient, who
is in honor bound to return il AT the first
opportunity. The proper way 10 break
them iS TO crush the shell in the hand
over the persons head. allowing its con
tents to fall on the head In the excite
ment, however, the shell lis more fire.
quently broken on the head, regardless of
locality or force used, and is oftentimes
suggestive Of anything but amiable feel
ing Oh the part of the bestower When
the ice is once broken by some adventur-
Gus maiden pr plucky man the contagion
soon spreads, and i'll very short time
everybody is chasing around the room
breaking cascarones indiscriminately and
receiving them from ali sides These
mock battles usually occur between
dances Monterey Gal Argus.